Guardians of the Galaxy & Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Doublepack [DVD] [2017]

With Thor: Ragnarok raking in so many early rave reviews, unless the Justice League movie chokes and hoiks up a loogie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 may end up as the least of the six superhero movies released in 2017. And the thing of it is: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a good sequel. It's just that Logan, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man: Homecoming are better.Why isn't the sequel as good as the original? First, it's hard to recapture that first-time shine. Also, James Gunn has written in just more of the same that worked so well in the first one, but he dialed it up, which, to me, came off as trying too hard. I wasn't too thrilled with having Stallone in the movie. His being there took me out of the story. There were some other things.You and I know that Starlord's origin in the MCU isn't the same as in the comic book. In the comic book, Peter Quill's dad was a jerk emperor of the Spartax planetary system. In the MCU, Quill's pops is Kurt Russell. Movie starts with a preamble, a flashback to Missouri, 1980, as a CGI de-aged Russell drops mention to his beloved earthgirl, Meredith, of his long-range plan, his sacred purpose, that he calls the Expansion.Back to the present, the Guardians are bickering and one-upping and side-eyeing each other as usual. They've been hired by the Sovereign to bump off an interdimensional beast what looks like a gnarly squid and prevent it from consuming the Sovereign's batteries. The Guardians' taking on the squid makes for a lively opening act accented by an oblivious baby Groot rocking out to "Mr. Blue Sky."The Guardians should've taken to heart the worrisome reports floating around about their employer. The Sovereign flaunts an expertise in mad genetical engineering. But that's not the important part. The Sovereign aren't only golden-skinned, they're notoriously thin-skinned. They are easily offended. How does the Sovereign's high priestess respond to a perceived insult: "The cost of transgression is death!" Easy there, priestess.There's a dichotomy about this movie that trips me out. On one hand, this sequel returns us to the vivid colors, dazzling imagery, panoramic sweep, and surging momentum that made the first movie so heralded. But the plot unfolds in fashion requiring that the band split up, with Starlord, Gamora, and Drax journeying to a distant planet so that Starlord could spend time with his pops, Ego. Lots of the movie is spent on Ego's home planet, where a hell of a lot of exposition happens, and that kills some of the movie's propulsion and dampens the bright, frenetic mood established in the original. Yep, Volume 2 drags in spots. Ego's segment actually feels like a bottle episode.I was more into the B-story. It has Rocket and baby Groot and one other trying to stay one step ahead of Yondu and his Ravagers who'd been sicced on our guys by the Sovereign for a transgression perpetrated by a Guardian (**cough*Rocket*cough**).Vol. 2 is fun, but not as fun as Vol. 1. Of the new characters, Mantis is the most likable. She is a sweetheart but disappoints because she doesn't exhibit the martial arts badassery of the comic book Mantis. Both versions do have psychic powers. I guess if I could pinpoint two glaring flaws, it's that the villains are weak and that James Gunn pushes the humor too far down the throat. The Sovereign are lame baddies, petty and bratty and not at all menacing. Ego is simply uninteresting to me, which sucks because I usually like Kurt Russell. Gunn fails utterly in his stab at parallelism when Ego tries to mirror his raison d'etre with Looking Glass's #1 Billboard chart-topper in 1972, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)." That was just a weird scene, and, more importantly, I didn't care one bit. There's a try at resolving familial issues between Gamora and Nebula, and between Starlord and his two dads, Ego and Yondu. And who knew Yondu had it in him to stir up one of the most moving scenes in the movie?As far as the humor being forced, it was like ODing on the stuff. The script goes out of its way, too much out of its way, to nurture a joke and pay it off - like the whole Taserface gag. They got Drax dropping so many deadpan one-liners it was like Shecky on improv night. It got to be a bit too much, to where I started seeing him as a relentless joke machine rather than a three-dimensional character. After a while I had a sense I was being manipulated, that the characters' laughing so hard at the jokes is supposed to sway me into thinking, yes, okay, these jokes must be funny. Only, the jokes aren't nearly as funny as the characters seem to think they are.The good stuff? The Easter eggs are dope; there are tons. It's cool that Yondu finally snags the big fin. And Baby Groot, he is just too cute, man. The five end credit stingers. "Guardians Inferno" by The Sneepers ft. David Hasselhoff. The blurb at the end of the credits assuring us that "No raccoons or tree creatures were harmed in the making of this movie. However the same cannot be said for handlers of the raccoon and tree creatures." My favorite line in the movie? It needs a ***SPOILER ALERT*** and it's courtesy of Starlord who, at one point, remarks: "You shouldn't have killed my mom and squished my walkman." Who do you think he was saying it to? See the movie and find out.

Family loved looking forward to the new one!

The 1st movie is my favorite but this one's great too. Guardians is one of those movie franchises you think you'll hate but end up pleasantly surprised, which makes you love it even more.

Action pack, it shows good team work

As good as the first!

Lots of laughs and smiling moments.

Lets, see the movie started - and I loved EVERY scene until it ended. Just a fun well acted and bar raising # 2 film. The amount of movies with a #2 that are GOOD is small. THIS one was not. Loved the story, loved the music ( COME ON! its almost a cheat to use those classic songs! SO GOOD ), it was all good, can't wait for the next one. Lets see if they raise the bar ( I trust them, THEY WILL! )

I watched both volumes back to back. I'd never seen them before. The first one had me tear up a little bit but not too bad. Dude... This one I was almost sobbing by the time the credits rolled. For a dude that grew up without a father or a real male figure to look up to for most of my life this one hit home hard. It reminded me that my grandfather in the short time I had him at the end of his life (five years before he followed my grandmother to the afterlife) was my Daddy. I had never really thought about it or him like that. Great, now I am crying again while writing this review.The story is super relatable for me. I think just about everyone will find something in it even if it isn't the father angle like it was for me.Baby Groot was absolutely adorable and a much needed comedy relief at times when the story would get intense.I loved seeing Stallone and Russell in the movie. I grew up watching both of those men in various sci-fi and action movies. I think the last time they were in a movie together that I remember was Tango and Cash. Not sci-fi but still a great movie.My best friend says there is going to be a third volume. I can't wait to go see it. I might even take myself out to the drive-in instead of waiting to rent it on here!

An author writes a book on their own. A comic book may have two authors (artist & story-writer). A film requires enormous up-front finance these days, dozens of people, etc. This may explain why "First in the marvellous new series..." feels natural where a book is concerned, but "sequel" in films screams "The first one made money! Quick!! Let's write another & cash in!!!" Despite the fact that GotG is "based on" Marvel Comics superhero characters, this is exactly how these films feel to me. Longish review shortened - GotG1 is decent, 4*; GotG2 is a duff cash-in, 2*. Average that out - 3*.I am NOT a comic book fan. I've read the odd one here & there. Watchmen was damn fine & so was the film. But comic books have mostly passed me by, Marvel superhero stuff entirely so. I've happily escaped the money-making franchise mushroom that has appeared over the past decade or so. But GotG looked like fun, and this pack gives me both so...GotG on film is as shallow as a puddle. If there's any depth to the comic books, it's not shown in either film. Consequently as a non-reader, I'm sure there's back-story & stuff that I'm utterly unaware off. And I can feel it; that things I should know are missing. This is not a good start. For all that, GotG can, I think, be fairly described as an SF action-adventure romp. It's fun but without any depth. Characters are cardboard cut-outs at best, wholly one dimensional if not. It's crash, bang, wallop, knockabout fun with gags & comedy side-kicks. Nothing wrong with that. It's 4*.I don't know what they thought were doing with GotG2. I don't know whether it's actually based on a genuine GotG story, or whether it was written for the film. But it's duff. The plot is dodgy anyway, but then they load 3 sub-plots onto a script that has a dodgy premise & would struggle to support one sub-plot. The chuckles diminish, the SFX are... only what we've seen before, the crash bang wallop keeps getting interrupted with dull philosophising / moralising, "Why do you hate me / why don't you love me / how can you be like this" shizzle that simply doesn't work in the shallow universe we see. Oh, plus it is ENTIRELY predictable. Meh.Let's put it like this - 1 is worth having, 2 isn't really, 3 is currently shelved. And if it becomes unshelved, I won't be taking any interest, given what 2 was like. I can't remember the prices I saw when I added GotG to my Wishlist, but if the price for this pack is close to the price for 1 alone, then buy the pack; you might as well. If it's not... 1 is worth spending a few quid for; 2 isn't.

I bought this 4k Blu Ray new with Prime delivery and assumed that meant it had been sold by Amazon. Didn't watch it for a month and when I did it has all sorts of crazy glitches - chapter thumb nail pops up without prompting on each chapter, major glitching. Disc is unblemished, so I assume it is a manufacturer fault. I tried to solve this problem with Amazon and they've claimed the order was from a third party seller despite their being no option to leave seller feedback. Being forced to jump through hoops now to return a faulty product because Amazon are lying and not providing any customer service.Movie is 5 out of 5. 4K Blu Ray and Amazon service equals zero stars.

Had a very enjoyable evening watching the movie with the family. The kids were amazed by the movie and obviously charmed by Groot and Mantis.Is it as good as the first one? Yes, in many aspects, but much of the pleasant surprise of this crazy universe and the 80's-music that was there with the first movie, is gone.The story is okay, I didn't particularly like the meandering plot around Peter's father Ego . Then again, it doesn't matter because its all about friendship, great visuals and 80's tracks .When possible we buy the 3D version and this one looked fantastic on our reasonably high-end OLED screen.

The 3D Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 carries on from the  first , and in my opinion it is even better. We all enjoyed watching it, and again the next day.It is wonderfully escapist, with great imagination and humour to carry us along. It is corny in places, but then that is something one might expect for a film based on a premise like this one.I specifically wanted the 3D version, and it does not disappoint, adding that extra dimension to the presentation of the story. It never felt intrusive and none of us had any headaches or eye-strain.The surround sound is excellent on our  Z906  system, taking us into the heart of the action. firstZ906

If you like the Marvel sense of humour, then you will Love this film. Funny, exciting sci fi/action/adventure. Would be best if you watch the first Guardians film first, but you'll catch up fast enough if not. The opening scene is pure gold and I defy anyone to try watch it with having a huge grin on their face. Short breakdown; half alien half human discovers alien dad is self appointed god of his of own planet with even grander god complex up his sleeve. Accompanied by green girl, huge red man, organic/mecanoid raccoon with attitude and a talking twig he journeys into wildly dangerous territory whilst being pursued by hacked off gold sprayed egocentric beings. All great family fun.